Best known as the Opportunity Expert based on my proprietary leadership methodology called, "the immigrant’s perspective” that defines the characteristics to be a 21st century leader. This methodology promotes the idea of leading through a lens of opportunity – that is enabled through a mindset of continuous survival, renewal and reinvention. That if leaders embrace the immigrant’s perspective, they will have a distinct advantage in business by being able to see and seize previously unseen opportunities, and opportunities others don’t see at all. I am a former C-suite corporate executive and entrepreneur of several successful companies – my firm (Glenn Llopis Group) is a thought-leadership, human capital and business strategy consultancy. We enable corporations to develop their leadership identity to further define and implement go-to-market strategies. Most of my writings, speaking engagements and consulting assignments focus on leadership, change management, Hispanics in America, career advancement, marketing diversity management, entrepreneurship, business development and turn-around operations. I am the author of Earning Serendipity: 4 Skills for Creating and Sustaining Good Fortune in Your Work; Why a Personal Employee Brand will Save Your Career and Your Workplace, Preparing U.S. Leadership for the Cultural Demographic Shift, Awakening the Latino Factor and Women Must Dive In, Not Just Lean In. I make frequent appearances on local and national TV, including CNN, Fox, ABC, NBC, and Univision. Circle me on Google+

Big Data Shows The Growing Influence of Hispanics Will Change Business Models

In a recent interview with ABC News Univision, I reiterated what happens when you underestimate the Latino voter and don’t bother to make the effort to truly understand the community and its cultural values. Perhaps now with both political parties finally starting to acknowledge the importance of the Latino vote – backed up by Big Data and a fast-growing community that also extends to their use of mobile technology and social media – the business world will finally step up to the Hispanic “super-consumer” opportunity before them.

The Hispanic community is one of the greatest untapped markets we have ever seen. Already the largest minority in the U.S., their numbers continue to grow faster than any other group. Between 2000 and 2010, the Hispanic population grew by 43 percent, or four times the nation’s 9.7 percent growth rate. In real numbers, this was an increase of 15.2 million people of Hispanic descent and accounted for more than half of the total U.S. population increase of 27.3 million.

Their optimism is tempered with a good deal of skepticism, however. Ideas such as financial planning and insurance coverage can be foreign concepts to those from families or home countries where it was not common. The institutions that offer these services are just beginning to broach this skepticism by getting past their own preconceived notions to truly understand the Hispanic consumer.

The emergence of Hispanics as a consumer force is growing rapidly, with a purchasing power expected to reach $1.5 trillion dollars in 2015. Dubbed “super consumers,” Latinos in the U.S. are blowing past the mainstream and other minority groups in this regard. In fact, the U.S. is seeing an increase in buying power not happening in other countries, and that is because of Hispanic growth here.

Such businesses, with their built-in connection to the Hispanic consumer, are serious competition to many industries looking for a toehold into the market. But if you recognize them as more than competitors – for example, by partnering with Latino business owners and forging relationships with Latino suppliers – you will be building an important base from which to develop your cultural intelligence.

As Hispanics rise as consumers and business owners, we also have to acknowledge the growing pains, or “tension points” between the community and major industries in the U.S. Hispanics expect companies they do business with to understand and address their unique and diverse needs, and research indicates common themes across industries looking to build relationships with Hispanic consumers. Many of these themes tie into the growing prevalence of social media, mobile solutions, big data, and interactive technology – and the spotlight all of these developments put on the importance of relationship building. Hispanic online and mobile usage is among the highest of any group and continues to increase faster than the general marketplace. This makes them an important, if not the most important category of consumers for retailers and other industries. What’s behind all of this usage and consumption? Consider these statistics:

Hispanics account for more than half of U.S. population growth over the past ten years.

The number of U.S.-born Hispanics has reached more than a million a year, for the first time surpassing immigration as the leading cause of growth.

Many Hispanic groups have doubled their population in the U.S. in the last ten years.

The objective now is to improve relationships and communication with Hispanic consumers, influence their buying behaviors online, and leave a targeted value impression that creates customer conversions.

These consumers are also more likely to make spontaneous, “impulse” decisions. This opens up more opportunities for businesses in the Hispanic marketplace, and those capitalizing on the power and scope of digital technologies will have a competitive edge. One example: creating a rich user experience that is easy to navigate and transferable to mobile devices. Another is enabling your Hispanic customers to engage with your brand through social media; in particular, young Hispanics want to join the conversation, but they also want to change it and make good on the progress made from previous generations. Hispanics want to engage in an experience that empowers them and gives meaning to their voice, opinions and attitudes.

Data integration and management strategies are also needed to measure Hispanic buying power and trends in their behavior as consumers so that companies can allocate resources properly and measure their return on investment. Several examples have clear connections to the Retail industry, but can also be applied across the board to other industries, including Healthcare, Insurance, Banking & Finance, Media & Entertainment, and more.

These industries are already looking to one retail giant online, Amazon, as they retool themselves to become more consumer-focused. Taking it to the next level – to zero in on and serve the largest and fastest-growing minority consumer group – is a natural progression. Whatever the industry, the common themes that emerge with regards to the Hispanic community include:

The Hispanic community is underrepresented (in the media), “unbanked” (in finance), and underserved by all industries.

Companies need to do a better job of reaching out to the Hispanic community, targeting them with culturally-appropriate messages and language, providing education, showing care for the community beyond just selling to them, and understanding their diversity (i.e., not treating them as a single bloc of consumers).

Hispanic consumers are fast and furious adopters of new technology, providing myriad opportunities to reach them online, via mobile devices, and through social media.

My organization has spent months gathering relevant articles, events and advocacy group websites listed by industry vertical, along with relevant tension points that we can help to alleviate. This is the first of its kind whitepaper to provide you with instant insights and powerful perspectives about what top-tier industries are telling us about building relationships through social media, mobile solutions, big data, interactive technology and online marketing. This whitepaper will help you unlocked the Hispanic “super-consumer” opportunity. Click this link and enjoy!

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The beauty of Big Data is that firms can use it to determine if enjoyment of/ involvement in a 2nd culture (beyond 2nd language use) and/or residing in a ethnic-majority geography is a strong predictor of sales (or views, visits, etc.) If that is the case for your brand, then your mainstream plan alone will not drive business growth. Furthermore, using text analytics, you can even identify what are the words in English or Spanish that correlate to higher or lower sales.